Kata Tóth, MA
Kata Tóth, MA
Kata Tóth studied History (BA) in Novi Sad, Vienna and Pisa. She completed her MA in History at the University of Vienna 2019 with her thesis “Michael der Tapfere. Sein Bild in der ungarischsprachigen Historiography im 17. Jahrhundert”. Currently, she is a PhD student and university assistant (prae doc) at the Department of East European History writing her thesis on the history of the Southern- and Eastern Carpathian Mountains under the supervision of Prof. Oliver Schmitt.
Research Interests: mountain history, border region studies, history of the Romanian lands, histoire croisée
Current Research Project: Des Carpates traversées aux Carpates vécues. Eine Geschichte der Süd- und Ostkarpaten vom 15. bis 17. Jahrhundert [Des Carpates traversées aux Carpates vécues. A History of the Southern and Eastern Carpathians from the 15th to the 17th Century]
Surprisingly enough, the Carpathian Mountains have rarely been investigated from a historical perspective. This is mainly due to two reasons: the first one is their nationalised image in the collective memory of their inhabitants. Secondly, both the sources and the already existing secondary literature on the region are fragmented and characterised by a great linguistic diversity. The aim of this dissertation is to show how power and property were manifested in the Southern- and Eastern Carpathians from the 15th and the 17th century. In this period the mountains formed the border between the principalities Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia. However, this political and administrative border shall not necessarily lead to divisions within the mountains, since in our case the mountains are regarded both as a research object and as a historic space. The theoretical framework is based on studies on international mountain history, especially on the history of the Alps. Hence, the manifestation of power and property relations will be investigated not only on the roads and paths crossing of the mountains (les Carpates traversées), but also on the mountains themselves with their pastures and forests that were objects to numerous conflicts of interest (les Carpates vécues). Due to the constant entanglements between these two aspects, as well as between the mountains and the plain, this history of the Southern- and Eastern Carpathians is perceived as a histoire croisée. In this way, it is hoped to lift the mountains out of the national context in which they have been studied so far, while making them visible at an international level, as well. Moreover, the study aims to fill the research gap that the Carpathians represent in the international mountain history.
Publications:
Michael der Tapfere. Sein Bild in der ungarischsprachigen Historiographie des 17. Jahrhunderts [Michael the Brave. His Image in the Hungarian-language Historiography of the 17th Century], Südost-Forschungen79 (2020), 305-340.